Minecraft: Thrive
by Directive 07
Summary: What if one day the world you once knew changed before your eyes? What if something came down so hard it would cause a breakdown to mandatory institutions, civil disorder on the streets, massive civilian casualties, and the collapse of governments worldwide? What if mankind had to start all over? This character is about to find out. Explicit Language. I do NOT own Minecraft
1. Prologue: On that day

**This Character will most likely be the main character in all stories I write.**

**Character Bio**

Name: Nikolai

Age: 17

Nationality: American

Ethnic Group: Hispanic

Appearance: 5'5'' Dark grey eyes, has an A.I. unit in the back of his head (like the ones in halo but without the helmet), black hair, short haircut

Clothing: Black,Grey plaid shirt (long sleeves but rolled up to elbows), Titanfall cap, grey/black shemagh, dark blue jeans, black finger-less gloves, black socks, light grey/teal Reebok ZJET running shoes, and a smartwatch (from The Division or on my profile picture) on the left arm

Personality: Neutral, Athletic, Lone wolf, Loves music, Has a habit of cussing, Not the best leader

**The style of this story is kinda like a hybrid of real life and minecraft.**

It's been a month since the event... the reason THIS happened. I still remember how peaceful these streets were before this apocalypse happened. If you were smart you would leave the city, but some people well.. they made some bad decisions. Many militias have been formed along the way, some of them help you out, they give you food, water, and may spare a bullet or two, but the others.. they're monsters, when these assholes come into play they have have one goal and one goal only; making your life as fucking miserable as humanly possible, if you see these 'men' you better make a run for it or make every bullet count... but don't try waving the white flag... they will just strangle you with it. My role in this shit storm is kinda in between if I would say so myself, I killed people yes, but only in self defense and when someone tries to harm the innocent. But when this incident happened everything escalated VERY quickly but yeah I still remember exactly what happened on that day.

* * *

***7/26/2017, 12:18:23 AM***

"Hello sir may I help you?" I asked nonchalantly.

To be honest; I HATED this job more than anything, I loved serving the customers but it was the manager and my boss constantly breathing down my neck that made me rather 'angry'.

"Yes, I would like some soda for now." The man said.

"Alright, and your dinner?" I asked while writing the order on a notepad.

"I haven't decided yet." He replied firmly.

As I prepared to leave I heard the managers voice on the left of me.

"Hey, Nikolai I need to have a word with you." He said while entering a small office in the back of the restaurant.

_'Awesome.. just what I needed.' _I thought sarcastically.

_'Well you might at least hear him out before jumping to conclusions Nikolai.' _A mature radioed voice echoed through my mind. **(The A.I. sounds like the ghost from destiny.)**

Ignoring the voice I entered the office and took a seat.

"I'm afraid I have bad news for you." He started.

_'Well, time to look for more jobs when I get home. Anything left to say before I get fired Foxtrot?' _I thought.

_'Come on lighten up, there's a 35% chance of him to say what you're expecting.' _Foxtrot said reassuringly.

_'We'll see.' _I thought feeling slightly reassured.

"You have been promoted." He said, with an unreadable face

_'Bullshit...' _I thought.

"Well, if you could excuse me I have to wrap the day up." He said, getting up and announcing to everyone in the restaurant. "Alright people, we are now closed, these will be your last servings along with your orders." He announced while making a line towards the exit.

"Hey wait.. can you explain how the heck I got promoted?" I tried asking. But my efforts were useless as he already walked outside, rudely shutting the door on me.

_'Well.. that happened. Congratulations, I think your parents would be very proud of you.' _Foxtrot said approvingly.

"Yo Niko, here is the order for table eight!" A worker shouted to get my attention.

"Huh? oh.. yeah, I will be right with you." I responded. Taking the meal I made my way towards the customer. "Ah.. sorry for the wait sir things have been eventful today." I started to apologize only to be interrupted.

"No need to apologize." He said then added, "Congratulations though." He said, smiling.

"Wait wha-" I started to question, but he interrupted me by putting his hand up.

"You're a loud one aren't you?" He laughed.

Confused I looked around me to see everyone staring at me. Some were laughing a little and some looked at me disapprovingly.

_'Go and check out. I'm pretty sure your colleagues will understand. And also the fact that you got promoted, I think you earned it.' _Foxtrot said.

Without hesitating I went to the back of the restaurant and checked out. _'Colleagues? I wouldn't think this as a high class job.' _I thought as I walked to my car, a black 1970 Dodge Challenger.

_'Well... yeah I just wanted to make them sound professional.' _Foxtrot said, then asked, _'So what are you going to reward yourself with?' _The voice in my head asked curiously.

After entering my car I responded,_ 'What do you think? Finish watching breaking bad of course.' _I thought while turning on the radio.

_' Wh- really? I was expecting you to-' _Foxtrot started only to be interrupted by a distant sound of an explosion and screaming. This immediately got my attention as I looked at the back window of the car.

"What the." I thought out loud. Then suddenly the radio station changed into a broadcast.

* * *

**This is your national emergency broadcast system.**

**This is NOT a test.**

**Civilians are to stay indoors at all means necessary and await rescue. For those in a vehicle or have one you are instructed to leave the city.  
**

**If you have a child or loved ones missing please report to your local police department.**

* * *

"Oh shit..." I said unable to move due to shock. Is this an attack? Are there terrorists invading? Is my mother s-. I stopped at that last question. No... she WILL be fine. As I tried to reassure myself my body moved on it's own, grasping the gear and the wheel I drove my way into the city.

_'Uhh.. Nikolai?! I don't know if you heard the broadcast but we have to get OUTSIDE the city.' _Foxtrot said nervously.

I have to make sure. I have to...

It took a while for Foxtrot to notice what I was doing. _'Nikolai she will be fine! She is probably on her way out the city by now. You would be putting your life at risk for nothing!' _The more he tried to reassure me just made me more worried and I slowly speed up.

_'Nikolai! Stop this instant! This is ridiculous!' _As Foxtrot realized that I would not stop for nothing he eventually gave up. _'Fine. Don't say I did not warn you.' _He said, ending his efforts.

As I neared the city I checked around me. It was complete chaos as the roads were filled with abandoned cars, also people screaming in terror as they ran in all directions and several buildings on fire. _'What the hell happened here?'_ Then being the presistant guy Foxtrot tried once more.

_'Roads blocked. Maybe we sh-' _I then angrily interrupted him.

_'No... I will not be stopped by just a few cars' _I thought.

_'Well tough guy.. there's absolutely no solutions to this proble-' _As he was talking I stepped out of my car and ran towards the apartments, where my mother lived.

As I was running through the alleyways I heard many screams along the way. _'What's going on?! there's nothing here, why is everyone screaming for?' _As I reached the end of the alleyway and back on the streets I saw something that answered my questions.

What I saw was unbelievable. There were zombies ripping and eating flesh, skeletons that had a bows and arrows, weird looking green creatures with four legs and no arms, tall black weird looking figures with purple eyes and some sort of purple aura surrounding them.

"What the... fuck?" I whispered.

I guess I stayed in the open for too long, because before I knew it, three zombies were chasing me down.

_'Run run run!' _Foxtrot yelled.

Without hesitation I sprinted away into the alley across the street. "Where the hell did these things come from!?" I yelled while tipping near by trash cans and debris in their path hoping they would trip so I can get some distance away from them. And to my luck they didn't, they just jumped over them.

_'Gate up ahead!' _Foxtrot said.

I then looked ahead of me to see a locked gate... damn it. _'__Alright you have done this many times, don't slip up now' _I thought trying to concentrate. As I was nearing the gate I prepared myself for what I will have to perform.

_'Ok.. jump... Now!' _I thought as I jumped on a stone building with my right foot, then immediately used all my force to jump once more on my right giving me enough air to reach the top of the gate and climb over it. resulting me landing on the other side with a loud thud.

I grunted at the impact of hitting the ground. "That.. *gasp* was too close." I said exhausted. My thoughts were interrupted by pounding coming from the other side of the gate.

"You think they can break through that?" I asked.

_'I don't think I would like to stay and find out.' _Foxtrot calmly replied. _'Wait where do you think you're going?' _Foxtrot asked as I started walking.

_'You know where.'_ I thought as I started to get back on track.

"Alright where am I..." I silently said as I brought up my phone to check the maps. "Ok just a block away."_  
_

To my surprise Foxtrot did not respond, I guess he officially gave up on trying to convince me to go back.

As I rounded the block I saw the apartment building I half-smiled at the achievement of getting this far. As I walked towards the apartment lobby Foxtrot spoke.

_'Don't go in..' _Foxtrot said with a hint of depression.

_'What?' _I asked.

_'I'm sorry Niko, I really am.' _He said sympathetically

_'What are you talking about? The fuck is going on here?!' _I thought barging into the lobby and darting up to my mom's apartment.

_'You don't have to see her, just turn back now..' _He said with a final effort.

"Shut up!" I angrily yelled as I kicked the door open.

My mother was there, just not how I wanted to see her. Her body was laying on the ground motionless, she was shot with four arrows, her left arm bit, and the side of the room was blown up.

The sight made me grit my teeth in sadness and anger. "How.. long?" I barely said._  
_

_'Huh?'_

"How long did.. you know about this?" I said trying to fight back tears.

Foxtrot hesitated before saying, _'Since the start, when you were halfway to the city.'_

_'First my dad, and now my mother...' _I thought while looking outside the window at a supermarket.

_'Now what are you up to now?' _Foxtrot asked.

_'I'm going to survive this. Crying won't bring her back, I need to focus on the future.' _I thought still trying to stop the sadness from exposing itself.

_'You know I still remember when you were five or so, you really have grown up since that day. _Foxtrot exclaimed.

* * *

And with those last words I walked off and never looked back. Since this is survival now, people will do anything now even kill, I need to get better. And I think I know just the right guy to teach me.

**Well that was fun, anyway I decided to put in a quote from another video game, who ever finds it gets a cookie :P**

**And tell me if you think it's somewhat like minecraft (I'm kinda skeptical that it's not)**


	2. Chapter 2: Emergency protocol

**Chapter 2: Emergency Protocol**

***7/26/2017, 01:03:48 AM***

*Huff huff* I murmured while running.

_'Five yards away from destination... you see it?' _My A.I. asked me.

As I was running I looked up to see the local supermarket and with lots of people storming in and out of it. I have heard many people on the internet say that they would go to a Walmart or Target in case if events like this happened but THIS many? This is insane.

_'Yeah, I see it.' _I replied.

_'Alright, judging from this situation it's best if you take fifteen minutes got it?'_

_'Fifteen minutes?! Is it that bad?' _I thought.

_'Yes, yes it is. Get a move on Nikolai, I'll activate your Heads Up Display while your at it.'_

"Wait, wait that's not nesses- AGHHH FUU!" I screamed in pain as my eyes burned due to the sudden activation of my HUD. After a while my dark grey eyes slowly illuminated into a amber color, and the pain calming down a bit. Kinda weird, ever since I was a kid I used to feel nothing, but now it feels like sticking your head down a fire pit.

_'S-Sorry!, I forgot about that.' _Foxtrot stammered to apologize.

Ignoring Foxtrot I pushed my way through the hoards of people that were constantly coming out the store with shopping carts full of food and water. As I busted through the crowd I hurriedly got a cart and rushed towards the water aisle. Grabbing two eight packs of water bottles, I then pushed the cart towards the pharmacy at the far end of the store. As I was almost there I suddenly got hit on my left temple on my head, which caused me to be knocked on the ground. I tried to get back up and confront the person that hit me, but as soon as I started to pull myself up the man forcefully stomped on my chest.

"Sorry, but this cart is mine now. If you move you're dead." The man said as he nodded to another individual getting my cart. As soon as I regained my vision, I opened up my eyes to reveal who my attacker was. He did not look that intimidating but the thing that made me not move at all was the pistol that he was pointing in the middle of my eyes which I closed them shut as soon I looked into the barrel of the gun.

"Ok, don't shoot! Look there's more diplomatic ways we can settle this." I attempted to convince them, and bracing for a hit. But the sentence was followed by a short time of silence with both of the men above me looking at each other.

_'Well this escalated quickly, out of the frying pan and into the shit...' _I thought.

_'A complicated situation indeed. Wait do you know anything about disarming people?' _Foxtrot asked me.

_'Wait, what? I've only done three things in my life: games, work, and sleep. Where did this come from!?' _I replied.

_'Just convince him to get you up, from there grab his arm and ah.. I don't know that's on you. Good luck!' _Foxtrot said before the man that has his foot on my chest talked to me.

"Wallet and phone." He firmly said.

"W-What?" I stammered.

"Wallet and phone, or I will end you here and now!" The man retorted.

"Alright, alright but I will have to stand up for that." I replied.

"What?" He impatiently said.

"Y-Yeah, I'm pretty sure that none of us will want either of you to try to take it by yourselves. So.. let me do it." I quickly said.

The man looked again at his partner for confirmation of my request.

"Yeah he does have a point, I for one want to avoid looking stupid." The man's partner said.

As the guy's partner pulled me up he quickly retreated behind the man with the gun. As I put my hand in my pockets trying to look like I'm looking for my valuables I stared at the gun.

_'Alright that looks like a what, a 1911?' _I thought.

_'Don't know, could be a G18 for all we know.' _Foxtrot replied.

_'Nah, look at the architecture of it, can't be a Glock. It could be a Beretta though.' _I replied.

_'Wait, how do you even know all of this?'_ Foxtrot asked.

_'First Person Shooters... Where have you been when I played all those hours of battlefield?' _I asked only to be interrupted.

"Hurry up." The man demanded.

"I'm trying, asshole." I barked back. He then pulled back the hammer of his gun, trying to intimidate me.

"The fuck did you say?" He asked angrily.

Before I let him go any further I added, "What? Ending it so soon? Come on Biatch, you know you want to hit me... unless that's a line you're afraid to cross." I taunted.

As I got into his head he whipped his pistol at me yelling in anger, but as he did something weird happened. Instead of my HUD being orange, it faded into a cyan color, along with the man's voice slowly faded into nothing as I couldn't hear a thing, and to top everything off; everything was moving slowly. Then a ghost showed up that looked like... me? Not only that but there was another one from my attacker. As the man's ghost swung, my ghost quickly raised his arm to intercept his opponent's. Blocking the oncoming assault, my hologram or whatever then grabbed the barrel of the gun and used his other arm to twist the attackers arm and flipping him over and successfully disarming his foe, after that the holograms vanished in thin air.

Without thinking I readied my arm and repeated all the steps exactly how my hologram did, after once I flipped my opponent I quickly shot his charging partner once in the leg, I then turned around and shot the man I flipped over in both of his kneecaps to disable them resulting them to bleed and scream in pain along with the louder panicked screams of the crowds across the store due to the shots. After standing still for a short period of time I sighed to calm myself and lowered the gun. I looked down at the two men who were screaming in pain only to realize what I just did.

_'Oh shit... What have I done!?' _I thought.

_'Calm down Nikolai...' _Foxtrot calmly said.

_'Did you see that Foxtrot!? That was insane!'_

_'Hey, CALM down. That would be the adrenaline that's making you be like this.' _Foxtrot tried calming me down._  
_

_'God damn! What was that anyway?' _I asked.

'_Emergency Code: 04, 09, and 07. It's the event that saved your life.' _The A.I. explained.

_'Jeez... Wait why couldn't you do that when I was being beat up when I was a little kid? Or better yet; when they surprised me?'_ I asked.

_'***sigh***__I'm only instructed to do that when your life is TRULY in danger and It is best to do it when timed right.' _Foxtrot explained.

_'But that does not explain how everything was moving so slowly and all that other stuff.' _I said in thought.

_'Code: 04 lets me override your OS, making you have a reaction time of .05 milliseconds, everything was going on normally for everyone, but for you.. yeah. Code: 09 blocks all sound, I thought I would do this for the heck of it to help you pay attention. And there comes the well known Code: 07, The programmers were eager to take a look at this one, anyway this one allows you to see what will most likely happen and will show you how to defend yourself or to avoid it... And don't go thinking you can do this all the time. Protocol dictates the manual activation of this can be once a month with only three codes, got it?' _Foxtrot said.

_'Yeah... got it.' _I confirmed with disappointment.

_'Five more minutes.' _Foxtrot informed.

As I prepared to leave I couldn't help but look back at the two injured men behind me.

_'You're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?' _Foxtrot asked.

_'Sorry but if I just leave them there, I'm no better than what they are, but still. No one deserves to die like this.' _I responded as I looked for bandages. As I found some I ripped the package open to find four rolls of cloth, then kneeled beside the former owner of the gun I took, then started to patch him up.

"What are you doing?" He asked hoarsely from blood loss.

"What does it look like?... I'm saving your life." I answered, avoiding his gaze.

"I... attacked you.. why?" He stopped right there. I looked back at him and no doubt he fell unconscious.

After I healed his partner I called for help for them, then ran out the store with all the supplies I could manage to get. I kept the gun of course, in case if one of those 'things' get too close.

_'Well you showed an awful amount of humanity back there.'_ Foxtrot said out of nowhere.

_'I just did what anyone else would of done.' _I replied, nearing my car, then opening the trunk and started to fill it with the supplies I managed to get.

_'That's what you always say when you do something nice.' _Foxtrot said.

_'I say that because it's true. Anyone can show kindness and mercy if they wanted to.' _I thought as I started the engine.

_'Hm.. maybe not everyone.'_ Foxtrot said as I drove towards the road that leads out of the city. _'So, where to next?'_

_'Home. Then I think I'll pay my uncle a visit.' _I thought.

After ten more minutes I eventually reached my neighborhood. And the first thing I saw was those monsters outside on the streets. As I got out, I quickly hid behind my car to avoid being spotted.

_'Damn it! Today never gets easier huh?' _I thought, checking the pistol magazine. Five bullets...

_'Suppose not, take a peek let's see how many there are.' _The A.I. ordered.

I then slowly peeked my head up to count two walking skeletons, one.. green thing in the middle of the barely lit street, and the biggest spider I've seen in my life on a roof of a house.

_'How is this even possible?! This has got to be some nightmare.' _I thought.

_'As much as I wish I could agree with that, this is not a dream.'_ Foxtrot said.

I inaudibly sighed and got into a crouching position.

_'Tell me when I could move.' _I instructed Foxtrot.

_'Right... now, go.'_

It was going alright at first, but of course being me I jinxed it by losing my balance and tripped halfway. At first I thought it was nothing, it was not until an arrow almost grazed my neck that made me wake up entirely.

_'Oh no, not today. Screw that!' _I thought as I broke into a run.

'Your right, watch it!' Foxtrot pointed out as another skeleton at a nearby porch of a neighbors house loaded an arrow and shooting me just above my knees and making me fall forward.

As the all too familiar roaring of pain shot through my body it was soon replaced by the feeling of rushing blood. As the skeleton used it's arm to reach in it's quiver on his back, I did not hesitate to bring out my firearm, turning off the safety and quickly aimed to the right of me pointing the gun at my possible killer only to pull the trigger and releasing a deafening bang and a 9mm bullet, giving it a bone crushing sound as it exploded through the skull.

"Man, those guys were not to be messed with." I said looking at the gun.

_'You know; There's still three other monsters to go right?' _Foxtrot reminded me.

"Right." I said getting back on track, I stood back up drawing my gun and checking my surroundings. That spider is still on the rooftop on the left of me but that's all I can see. There's nothing else around it's like the other two monsters disappeared.

_'Hm... oh well. I could use a break now.' _I thought as I rushed to my house.

As I rushed in I shut the door behind me, locking it and slowly dragging my back down to sit against it.

"Home sweet home." I sighed.

_'Aren't you forgetting something?...'_

"No. What do you mean? I have everything wi-" I stopped right there as I looked out the window towards my car... with all the supplies... now surrounded by zombies and skeletons all over the place now.

"God... DAMN IT!" I shouted in frustration.


	3. Bonus Chapter: Epsilon

**This back story applies to both of my stories.**

**Bonus Chapter: Epsilon**

"So doctor, how is the patient doing?" A man in a high class suit said looking at a boy in a hospital bed being treated by doctors.

"His condition at the moment is unknown. All we know is that the patient got into a car crash, reports tell us that he suffered a fractured skull with massive brain damage, even both of his eyes suffered damage due to broken glass so we will probably going to replace those, and probably memory loss as well." A woman with a doctor's coat said

"So why has the mother and father agreed to let us do something like this?" The man asked.

"The mother agreed instantly when we told her the chances of survival will slightly be improved, but I still have a bad feeling about this." the doctor said

"And the father?"

"Before he died of internal bleeding he said anything to let him live." The doctor answered. "Are you really doing this free for the family? Why?"

"We are doing this free because it has not been done before, anywhere actually. If this succeeds this young boy will have improved eyesight, reaction time, and intelligence, it won't be only beneficial to him but also our soldiers." He smiled.

"So this is what it's about huh? you're using this boy as a test rat." she scoffed at the man.

He then looked serious again. "You know I don't like this decision either you know, but once the high ranks were looking for people to test on, this innocent child came on the list suddenly and they thought they would try a certain type of A.I. on this kid." The man said.

"Types? you mean there's different variants of these computers?" The doctor asked confused.

"Yes indeed, the one we are installing in this kid's brain is called Epsilon, it's one of our newest ideas, a perfect version for this kid's problem, but it is a prototype so he may experience some 'problems' along the way." The man explained.

"What kind of problems?" The doctor asked curiously.

"We don't know, therefore we will keep close communications on the mother." The man said firmly.

"So what else can this computer do?"

Just as the doctor asked a surgeon opened the door into the observation room.

"Epsilon has been installed, all the boy needs now is some rest." The surgeon said. As he stepped out the room the doctor faced the man.

"I hope you know what you are doing." She said.

"I hope THEY know what the're doing, and as always, have a nice evening Doctor Brooks." The man said while walking out the door and shutting it behind him, leaving the doctor alone inside the room.

***A year later***

As Dr. Brooks and the anonymous man was standing in the observation room once again looking at the young boy laying on a hospital bed.

"So you made updates on this Epsilon?" Dr. Brooks asked

"Yes, we added another umm... well let's just say a co-computer."

"That meaning?" The doctor asked again.

"Well its sorta like this; Epsilon is the OS and the co-computer, known as Foxtrot, sends audible messages in his mind to help and guide him, hell technology today is advanced enough to give this Foxtrot a personality."

"A personality?"

"Yes, we did some research on the patient's personality and made it more sophisticated and intelligent. Sort of like his personality once he grows up.. probably."

Just then the little boy on the hospital bed started shifting slightly and turning his head. This made the doctor and the man shocked.

"He is awake already? I thought you said three more weeks." he exclaimed.

"I did, how has he woken up already?" The doctor asked amazed.

They looked at the boy slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes before opening them

"Uh.. sir? how will you explain to the mother that you put a computer in the back of this child's head... and the fact that his irises are illuminating amber?" The doctor asked.

"Judging this he's probably making contact with Foxtrot, it will wear down momentarily." The man explained.

Soon after five minutes the boy's eyes slowly faded into a dark grey color. As Dr. Brooks and the man looked in awe, a surgeon walked into the observation room.

"The subject has been a success, but the increased intelligence and vision has failed but he does now have a very good reaction time." The surgeon briefed before walking out of the room once again.

"Well, at least he is alive." The doctor said.

"I guess, oh well that is the higher rank's problem, not mine. So... who will break the bad news." He said

"I think we will leave that to the mother." Dr. Brooks responded as she was preparing to leave.

"Alright, but I hope this young man can fit into society with that." The man said while leaving the room.

Just as the doctor can leave she looked one more time at the patient. "Yeah.. good luck." she said while shutting the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 3: A Small Reunion

**Hey guys sorry for the long wait, with my first year in high school and entering the JROTC Drill Team and my laziness, you can expect more waits like this sorry.**

**Chapter 3: A Small Reunion**

**7/26/2017, 08:06:44 PM**

**"The number of confirmed deaths has passed 450,000 worldwide. The death of the current president of the United States and the queen of England, leaves both governments and parliaments clueless of future plans of action. In other news-"**

***Short static sound***

**"Panic spread worldwide as this unknown infestation of 'alien species' spread with the biggest attacks in New York, London, and Moscow. This is what witne-" **

***Static***

**"Riots build up in Chicago as officials declare marshal la-"**

***Static***

**"The list stacks up on how many states are overrun with this new threat, the newest are: California, New York, Texas, an- ."**

The TV then turned off on its own.

"What the?"

I began repeatedly pressing the power button on the remote. Realizing that nothing would work I threw the rectangular object aside.

_'So... what do we do now?'_

_'I told you before, I'm going to make a visit.' _I responded.

I then stood up to try the radio. After I repeatedly pressed the power button I realized what's going on.

"Power is out." I sighed as I let myself fallback on my queen sized bed.

"You know this kinda reminds me of something." I said nonchalantly.

_'About that fanfiction?' _Foxtrot asked.

"What? No. I was talking about a TV show... but now that I think of it."

_'So about that visit...' _Foxtrot said, putting me back on track.

"Oh. Right.." I said as I pulled myself up from my bed and change out of my uniform and into my usual style. As soon as I wrapped my shemagh around my neck into a scarf I made my way down to the kitchen to make myself breakfast, as I ate my breakfast Foxtrot decided to make a conversation... or at least tried to.

_'So do you really believe that our president is dead?' _Foxtrot asked.

_'Yes. I mean: he IS confirmed dead.' _I replied.

_'That's not what I me-... Never mind.'_

As soon as I finished eating I took a knife from the nearby knife block.

_'What's that for?'_

"Yeah, having the same thing from yesterday happen again? No thanks." I responded as I looked outside the window to make sure no monsters are around.

Seems like there's nothi- wait. Why are the're zombies and skeletons burning in broad daylight?

_'That... doesn't make any sense.' _Foxtrot exclaimed.

"Tell me about it." I said as I swung the door open and felt the brightness and warmth of the sun on my body.

"Alright..." I pulled the hammer back on my firearm and readied my knife. "Let's go.."

I followed my same posture as yesterday, making sure to check my surroundings and having my weapon up and ready just in case. Soon, I eventually reached my car.

_'So how long is the trip again?' _Foxtrot asked.

_'At least thirty to forty minutes. He lives in the outskirts of San Antonio you know, an isolated area.' _I answered.

_'And how exactly can he help us?'_

_'I'm hoping he can teach me a little more about survival and also maybe he can teach me how to shoot a pistol.' _I thought as I entered the Dodge Challenger.

_'Oh, you're talking about John right? Your mother's brother?'_

_'Yes.'_ I confirmed while turning on the car and making the engine roar as I drove towards the highways.

Although John was my uncle he was also the man that taught me how to hold a rifle when I was twelve years old. And not other than that; he gave me the shemagh I still wear today and also is a retired soldier in the marine corps.

_'But wait. You haven't visited him since you were barely thirteen, what would we do if he doesn't recognize you?'_

As ridiculous as it sounded coming from Foxtrot I realized he was right in a way. The way I've grown and how my features changed since I was twelve has been pretty crazy. But then again all I need to do is take off my cap.

_'I'm pretty sure he will recognize me.' _I thought.

Halfway through I managed to see San Antonio on my left. The sight shocked me of how many skyscrapers were knocked down compared to yesterday and black smoke in the sky erupting from other burning buildings along with the fact that there are no law enforcement around. Come to think about it I'm the only person on the road right now, the only objects that're ahead are abandoned vehicles.

_'I guess most people are still in the city. Scavenging more likely unless there's law enforcement around.' _Foxtrot firmly said.

_'Let's be honest, at this rate there will be no law enforcement around.'_ I thought. Now all I was doing was watching the distant burning city while driving. Soon after I couldn't see the city anymore I paid full attention on the road. Nearing my destination I heard distant gunshots. As I stepped out of my car and opened the gate that led to a house, I then walked to the house while having my hands in the air showing that I'm friendly in case if he was looking towards my way.

As I stepped on the porch of the house I knocked on the door. "Yo, Los Pollos delivery." I sarcastically said.

The door slowly opened to reveal a man in his probably late thirty's with grey eyes like mine and with light brown hair while wearing a white T-shirt along with blue jeans.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Well... maybe I HAVE changed that much.

"Wow, you don't remember your own nephew?" I asked.

"Ha. Sorry but you are not Nik-" I interrupted him by turning around and taking off my cap pointing at the small lit up A.I. unit.

"As you were saying?" I asked nonchalantly turning back at the man.

"Nikolai!?" He sounded surprised.

"It's good to see you too." I responded.

"Wha- how?"

"I've seen some shit along the way but yeah, I've managed." I answered his question.

Just then a feminine voice can be heard from inside the house.

"John? John who is at the door?" A woman then walked out. She looked like the same age as John with long brown hair and eyes, she was wearing a navy blue shirt and with black shorts.

"Oh ah.. Jen, this is my nephew Nikolai. Nikolai, this is my wife Jen, your aunt." John introduced us to each other and we shook hands.

Now that I think of it I have heard John getting married from my mom, but I didn't go to the wedding because of... Reasons.

_'Yeah, I bet one of those reasons was your laziness.' _Foxtrot remarked.

_'Shut. Up...' _I thought.

"Um.. Jen? Can Nikolai and I have a moment please?" John asked.

"Oh sure." Jen said then inaudibly added, "It's not like I wanted to know more about my nephew or anything." She then stepped back in the house leaving me and John alone on the porch.

"Thank god you're safe, It's been so long. Once I heard on the news of what happened I did not know what to think of this. So... what brings you here?" John asked.

"Well for starters ah.. I was hoping you could teach me how to fire a pistol and teach me a thing or two about survival." I answered.

"A pistol? Since when did you have a pistol?" He asked.

"Since yesterday." I firmly said while raising the firearm to show it only to be snatched by John.

"Whoa! where did you get THIS?!" He said while examining the pistol.

"Some guy tried to rob me... I don't think I need to go into detail."

"Do you have any idea how rare this is?" John asked.

"Eh.. What?" I said with my curiosity being piqued at the word rare.

"Well sir, you have stumbled across a Hi Powered L9A1 Browning and by the looks of it: It's an original." He then asked while passing the pistol back at me, "I don't suppose your willing to trade that are you?" He asked hopefully.

"Not really.. I mean; it's my only defense besides this." I said while holding up the kitchen knife.

"A kitchen knife really? You never considered getting a survival knife or a... never mind."

Slightly annoyed I said, "Well I'm sorry Captain Yeager, unlike you I never had military training." I then smiled mischievously and added, "Besides, I bet you wouldn't mind giving me a new military knife and a rifle since you have THAT many in your inventory." I joked.

It may not seem like it but it was true, John showed it to me before when I was twelve and I'm actually curious how many he added over the years.

"Alright. I'll give one of each to you for that pistol." The man smugly said.

I stood there for a moment of silence before regaining my senses. "Heh. Nice joke. You almost had me the-"

"Not kidding. Come on in!" John then tugged my arm and dragged me into the house not waiting for an answer. He then sat me on a couch in the living room before talking business. "Alright, name your price and I will tell you if we have a deal."

"W-wait what? You know I was kidding right?" I stuttered.

"Come on. There is gotta be something you'll want." He urged me on.

Just by his excitement made me smile a little. _'Alright. Let's put that to the test.' _I thought. I remember a gun, one which he wouldn't let me be ten feet from.

"Your M82." I said with a challenging edge in my voice.

"Ah.. um.. well... God damn it." John said with a drop from his head in defeat.

"Thought so." I smiled.

"Hm. Tell you what: I'll give you a XM2010 for that." The man bartered. **(Real rifle, search it up to see what it looks like.)****  
**

I stopped for a second, a XM2010? Never heard of that. "A what?" I asked.

"It's a sniper rifle of course. But it has its pros and cons"

"Like?" I once more asked.

"Alright, let me show you then." John said, taking my arm again and leading me down towards the stairs to the basement. This is awesome but there's still something bothering me about this.

"So wait a sec, you mean to tell me that you will give me a sniper rifle for a handgun?"

"Well... that's not really the entire reason I mean: we're family, we take care of one another right?"

I said nothing, I only looked at him. I haven't did anything that much family related ever since I went to college and got a job.

"Uh.. yeah, right."

With a short period of clanking of metal, John eventually found what he was looking for. The gun that he pulled out had a somewhat small frame along with a ECI inserted along with a scope, a bipod, a sling, and a black hexagon camo finish.

"Alright, what do you think?" The former marine asked as he dropped the rifle in my arms. I expected for it to be heavy but surprisingly I found it light. "It's mostly made out of matte carbon which is one of the plus sides. But it's a semi-decommissioned-ish rifle, like right here the magazine placement is blocked off but I did manage to get the bolt working so it can take one bullet at a time. Also with it's foldable stock you can expect to move more fluidly."

"Wait, one bullet at a time? I don't suppose you have anything to make that easier do you?" I asked hoping for a good answer.

"Not really, but... catch." He threw something at me and I barely caught it with my one free hand. "That is a wrist ammo pouch, it should make it somewhat more manageable, better than carrying bullets in your hand." I examined it to the point where I know where to slide the bullets in, I counted four slots. "Just make sure you put it on your left arm and adjust it to where the slots are facing upwards." He then picked up a rolled up cloth and put it on a table and unrolled it to reveal its contents: knifes. John then started to give me details on each one. "Of course, you will need some type of back up weapon in case you get into a tight situation, right here is the MTech blade (Aka the knife from halo 4) a six inch blade that is light and versatile so you could use it to cut a branch or what ever the hell you want to do with it, it will always be useful." John then sat the knife down and moved on. "Then we have the Kalashnikov Boker Plus, this fixed blade is about eight inches and excels in combat." He then pulled out the last one which had a full jagged side and a wrapped handle "Or you can have a modified classic, the Bowie Knife as you can see this is mostly made for survival and not really combat but hey, it does look intimidating."

Well, they all look badass but I think I'll take the all-around knife. "I guess the MTech." I firmly said.

"Alright." Said John as he got a nylon sheath attached to straps. "You will strap that onto your leg of your choice when you go scavenging or just when you're outdoors okay?"

I gave a nod then noticed a piece of equipment on top of the scope that kind of looked like a small screen.

"Wait, what's this?" I pointed at the small screen on the scope.

"Hm? Oh. That's a Ballistic CPU it measures range, temperature, and barometric pressure."

"Really? Oh wait... it doesn't work" I say as I look at the screen saying something about needing hardware installation, and shortly after the screen fizzled out and leaving the small screen blank along with the entire basement.

"A blackout?" Said John.

"Here too?" I asked while trying to adjust my eyes to the now dark room. A minute later I tripped on something and fell with a thud.

"Hey, are you alright?" Asked John.

"Yeah, yeah just got to check my surroundings." I answered.

I tripped again.

_'Foxtrot, a little help here?' _I thought.

No response.

_'Hey come on, do something that could help me out here.'_

Still no response.

Soon my confusion was replaced by fear and concern.

"John, I'm going to take my cap off tell me if my A.I. core is still glowing okay?" I said as I took my hat off. "You see it?"

"Yeah, It's still on Niko." John's voice said. "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

I paused for a moment. "It's nothing, don't worry about it." I said reassuringly, _'Well if it's on I guess I'm fine but... I don't know if this could be more serious than I think it is.'_

The sound of a door opening and the sight of a little sunlight made me jump back into reality.

"Found the stairs, come on, bring everything too."

"Yeah, okay." I quickly got everything together and slowly made my way towards John. As we returned to the living room I sat on a nearby couch and heard sizzling from a nearby stove and picked up a unmistakable scent of meat and beans.

"Hm? Oh, there you two are. I was wondering what was happening down there until the power turned off, are you two alright?" A familiar feminine voice said.

"Yeah we're good, what time is it?" I asked.

"Almost eight I think, the sun is going down." Answered Jen as she looked out the window.

"I guess it's time to go." I walked towards the door.

"Wait, you can stay here if you want. Listen those... what ever they are mostly come out at night, so going out there is not really the most smartest idea. At least here it's more safer." Said John.

_'Well he got's a point, not sure what would happen myself either.' _"Um.. yeah I guess I could." I decided.

After eating dinner Jen and John showed me to the guest room which was on the second floor while lighting candles to light the house, after putting everything aside on a table I heard John's voice behind me suddenly asked something I did not want to answer.

"You know I've been wondering, ah.. Niko? Where's your mother at? Is she safe?"

Silence filled the room.

_'Shit...'_

"She is.. She's." I was hesitating. _'Damn it Niko! Just say it!' _I screamed in my mind and small tears started to develop. And not once at this moment have I turned around.

"Niko.. are you okay?" Jen asked.

I slowly turned around, looking at the carpeted floor. "She is... d-dead John.. y-you're sister is dead I'm sorry." I then looked up to see Jen's stunned face and John... I can't read it.

"John." Jen said while trying to comfort him.

"Uh.. yeah, goodnight Nikolai." John's voice could barely be heard as he slowly left the room with Jen leaving me alone.

I slowly crawled in the bed and banged my head against the pillow. This is what I wanted to avoid, but I guess it's for the greater good to just get it out of the way early. I thought about all the things that happened lately before falling asleep.

* * *

I found myself outside laying on grass, I tried to regain my senses until I noticed one thing: Almost every thing was made out of cubes, even the sun and clouds were cubic. "What the hell?" I hoarsely said, standing back up I looked around to this strange environment. "Where am I?" I said. The weather then dramatically changed with wind roaring in my ears then fog was everywhere, I heard footsteps behind me. I spun around to see who but there was no one there, I then looked back to see my mother's dead corpse just as I saw in her apartment. I fell back with a yelp, now fear was seeping in. A figure was starting to appear amid the fog, the figure was a human, a man with brown hair and glowing white eyes while wearing a slightly torn blue shirt and blue-purple jeans with boots. The man then slowly approached me.

"Hmph, what a pest she was am I right?" The man said.

"...What?" I said with a angry edge to my voice.

"You humans could be so annoying too, and with the way all of you have been treating my minions? Heh, I'm sure it's best for all of you to be wiped out."

"Minions? What are you talking about?"

"Well, you see: I've sent out my followers from this world to yours, a lot of them were so excited to come but since you humans decided to attack them, I then decided that your race is unneeded, your world will soon be ours for the taking. But get this: some of my minions actually still want to coexist with you people, can you believe that? Oh well, might as well kill those traitors as well."

"Huh? Who do you think you are?"

"Who am I? I am the god of the nether, fate has called for your race's extinction and I am it's instrument, just as you see here." The man pushed my mother's corpse slightly towards me with his boot. "There will be much more to come, I can promise you that."

The man then took out a light blue sword and rested the tip of it on my chest.

"With every loss you WILL remember me, and you will fear me to the day I'll kill you myself for my name is Herobrine."

The white eyed man then stabbed his weapon into my chest.

* * *

I then jolted from my dream only to find myself back in reality, I looked outside to see that the sun was barely coming up, then suddenly I recalled everything that happened in that 'Dream.'

"Great... I don't even know what to believe in anymore." I groaned as I looked up at the ceiling.

* * *

**Well there it is: my longest chapter I wrote with it going through the 2,000 word barrier. Anyway please leave some suggestions on how I could write better. Other than that I hope you enjoyed.**


	5. Chapter 4: Contact

** Sorry about the whole paragraph thing, I wanted to try something new until one of my friends pointed out that I was doing it wrong. Nonetheless on future chapters I will continue my usual spacing just like the other chapters.**

**Chapter 4: Contact**

**7/27/2017, 5:24:12 AM**

I yawned from exhaustion before getting up and checking the time. "Five in the morning? Jeez talk about a nightmare." I groggily said while looking out the window and rubbing my eyes. The sky still had a slightly dark shade but enough to where you can see everything along with the Forrest practically surrounding the house. "Well, might as well take a walk." I gathered everything John gave me yesterday and started to gear up, after strapping the drop-leg knife holster and inserting four silver .300 Magnum rounds into the slots in the wrist pouch I climbed downstairs and opened the door, this time instead of warmth I felt cool wind and chills against my body. I then folded the stock of my rifle and scanned the environment around me to make sure nothing was in sight before settling down and wrapping my arm around the sling of the rifle to carry it on my shoulder.

As I was walking casually around the forest I took the time to recall my dream. _'I just don't understand, even if it was real along with that explanation and that man, why me? Out of all people in this world why would he contact me? Oh yeah and what the hell is the Nether? is that supposed to be some kind of hell or heaven in his world?' _The more I thought about it the less I actually believed it, but some how that sentence was still stuck in my head, _"With every loss you WILL remember me, and you will fear me to the day I'll kill you myself for my name is Herobrine." _Before giving more thought I sat down against a nearby tree. _'Herobrine huh? The god of the Nether.' _I sighed. I guess this is another one of the few reasons why I would want a notebook made from the gods of death, it would make something like this a lot easier. I looked up at the sky to see that it was brighter now, I checked my watch as the small hologram came out that displayed 0626. _'0626... that's like.. 6:26 right? eh.. either way I really got to go ba-'_ My thoughts were Interrupted when I heard a crackling sound._  
_

"Hm? Is someone out there?" I asked, no response. I stood up to slowly back away while trying to pinpoint where the sound came from. I then walked away but not to the house for obvious reasons. as I moved about fifty meters away from the location I was currently at I then heard rustling leaves. At this point I slowly reached for one of the four bullets on my pouch and inserted it into the chamber of the XM2010. I decided to give this one more try, I walked about the same distance and pretended I was just looking at the many trees around me when I heard faint footsteps behind me, I turned around once more only this time I knew where this thing was hiding. _'Gotcha.' _I thought as I raised up the gun and aimed to the upper part of a tree for a warning shot, as I pulled the trigger the rifle released a much more loud bang and recoil compared to the pistol I formerly had, but this caliber was able to rip through the upper part of the tree. Apart from the tree falling I heard a small eep. Instead of walking towards where I shot, I then re-cocked the bolt and inserted another round. "Come out with your hands up." I firmly ordered.

I expected it to be some kind of monster but instead a girl about my age stiffly walked in my view, she was wearing a green hoodie with a face on the hood that kind of looked familiar, brown gloves, green stockings but no shoes, though it did not seem she did not have any shorts.. or skirt... I then saw her face, she had gold-orange hair along with amber eyes and a pale face. "State your name." I ordered. "C-C-Cupa..." The girl stuttered, obviously terrified. I then slowly lowered my rifle, she didn't seem to be armed but still, that does not change the fact she was stalking me, I sighed before swinging the sniper rifle around my shoulder and walking off. "W-Wait, y-you're not going to attack me?" Said Cupa as she lowered her arms slowly. I stopped for a moment. "No. Why would I? Hurting innocent girls is not really in my nature." I said, again walking off. At least ten minutes came by and this girl was still following me, I stopped, she stopped, I then faced her. "Is there a reason on why you're following me? Especially since I nearly blew your head off?" I asked. "Um.. well..." The girl was searching for the right words. "I mean: don't you have any relatives to go back to? I'm sure their looking for you." I added. "No.. it's just me out here so..." She looked away as if I knew the rest of the story. I sighed, "Okay fine, just follow me, there's a house not that far."

As soon we made it to the porch I knocked on the door, almost immediately it swung open and made Cupa jump. "Oh, hey John Niko is over here!" A certain brunette yelled upstairs. "Ah.. sorry to worry you two." I apologized. Soon John came down, "My god, where were yo-" The man stopped when he saw the girl behind me. "Who's this?" He pointed at Cupa. "I... she was lost." I answered. "Um.. nice to meet you mister..." She extended her hand while waiting for a name. "John.. John Yeager." Said John as he took Cupa's hand and shook it. Cupa then extended her hand to Jen, "I'm Jen Yeager." Said Jen. Soon after introductions were done we all sat in the living room. "So wait, how did you two encounter each other?" Jen asked. "Well we did not meet with the best impressions of each other." I replied. "How so?" John asked curiously. I looked at Cupa and gave her a 'okay, it's your turn now' look, and with that she spoke. "Well ah.. I was going to talk to him but as soon as I got close he shot a tree which I was behind of and asked me simple questions." Said Cupa, which made me choke on my glass of water slightly. _'Damn! Way to put it gently!' _I thought, I then looked at both faces of Jen and John which stared at me. "I-I did not know it was her I swear!" I said.

John cleared his throat. "Well in other news, I think it's time for your training." John firmly said. "Huh? Now?" I asked. "Yep, follow me. Jen, I'm sure you can give our guest some company too." Once Jen nodded John led me to the basement once more, this time bringing lanterns. "So I'm guessing your aware that as long as it's battery powered it works?" I asked. "Yep. Found out this morning, what were you doing out there anyway?" John then asked me. "I don't know, wondering around I guess." I answered. As we made our way to the spot where we were yesterday, John instructed me to put everything I had on the table. "Well, since that event between you two happened I'm going to put these in storage for a while until you learn some trigger discipline." Said John as he took away the sniper and the ammo pouch and stored it in a hard case. "You know, I don't think this is necessar-" I then got interrupted, "You nearly killed a girl Nikolai." Said John as he was searching around the room. "It was a warning shot." I inaudibly said. "What was that?" John asked. "Nothing." I responded as I knew protesting would only earn myself a very long lecture.

"Alright, here you go." John said as he tossed what looked like a M4 SOPMOD. It was light, too light. "This... is an airsoft gun isn't it?" I asked the marine. "Yep." John confirmed while getting another one for himself. "Alright show me how you usually hold a weapon." John instructed, I then held the carbine like I did with the sniper. "Ah ha, right here." John lifted my right finger off the trigger and moved it. "Never put your finger on the trigger until you have your target in sight got it?" I nodded my head in confirmation. "Next is aiming, go ahead." He motioned me to go. I then aimed down the sights. "Rest your cheek on the stock and keep your right eye aligned with the sight..., and for god's sake, keep that stock against your shoulder!" The marine barked and I adjusted immediately. Ok fair enough, maybe I DO need more training. "Standing form, go." Ordered John. I quickly snapped to the form. John then inspected me for a while before speaking. "...Aim." I pushed the gun up and aligned my eyes to the sight. After repeating the process over an hour or two John decided to give a break, "Alright that's enough for now, come back here after twenty minutes, got it?" John asked. "Yes, sir." I firmly said as I marched up the stairs.

As I reached my room I let myself lay on the bed. _'Alright, twenty minutes and there's nothing to do... wait a minute.' _I then dug my hand into my pocket to bring out my phone and turning it on, 41% battery. "Well, better make this count." I said as I searched through my other pocket to find Bose Freestyle ear buds, after adjusting the equalizer to get the most bass out of it I then decided to chose a song (Double Dutch - RDGLDGRN) and bring up the news to see three recent headlines.

* * *

*** The number of confirmed deaths has passed five-hundred. And as of right now all of the states have called a state of emergency.**

*** Witnesses confirm that small militia groups have been formed in western US along with the notorious group of them all that identify's themselves as: "The Fireflies" which at the moment are negotiating with the Armed Forces for support to reclaim our land.  
**

*** Meanwhile the United Armed Forces are deciding to attempt to help the survivors in the western US by sending care packages to random locations monthly with different contents depending on the flare color**

**- A red flare would mean a package filled with medical supplies**

**- A blue flare signifies a package filled with gallons of water and MRE meals**

**-whereas a black flare indicates survival supplies such as backpacks, jackets, portable battery packs, etc.**

** if you're in the following states: Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Arizona, be sure to keep a watch as there will be less frequent packages delivered in your area."**

* * *

_'Less __frequent.. great, just freaking great, ah well I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed, at least they still acknowledged the fact that there's still survivors.' _My thoughts were interrupted when something poked me on my side.

I looked to my right to see Cupa standing there, "yea- wait, hold on." I then took off my headphones, "Yeah?" I asked. "I said that Jen told me to come up here so we can get to know each other. What are these anyway?" Cupa curiously asked while feeling the cord attached to the ear buds and looked at my phone. "There headphones... have you never seen some before?" The girl just shook her head. "No I haven't. How do they work?" Asked Cupa who was still playing around with the wire. _'Is this some joke? She does not know what headphones are? Or phones?' _Hesitating, I spoke up. "Just put this in your left ear." I answered. "Like this?" Asked Cupa. "Yeah, hold on." I replied as I searched for a song that she would like, I then came across one (All This Could Be Yours - Cold War Kids) "Alright how's this?" I asked as I pressed play. Cupa's expression quickly changed into a confused expression but slowly formed into a relaxed form as the song played. "Well, I guess I can see you like indie music." I said. "This is amazing!" Cupa smiled, "do you have more like this?" Cupa eagerly asked. "Yeah there's plenty of songs out there but can I ask you a question first?" I asked. "Yeah, shoot." Cupa replied. "So you're telling me you didn't know what music was? Or even a phone?" I asked. "A phone? I'm assuming you're talking about this?" She pointed at the rectangular device and I simply nodded. "But yeah, I had no idea what it was until you showed me." The girl simply answered. "Um.. can I ask you a question now?" The girl asked. "Hm? And that would be?" I replied. "It's just that you seemed frustrated a while ago when I walked in. Is there something wrong?" Cupa asked.

I tossed her the phone, "yes, look at that." I answered. As Cupa looked at the three headlines she spoke up. "What... does this mean?" She asked. "It means if we don't get our shit together we're screwed." I simply answered. Cupa just looked around the room as if she was distracted by something, then again she's been like this ever since we met this morning. "Is.. there something wrong?" I asked curiously. "Huh? No no. Nothing's wrong." She continued looking around. "Really? because you have been looking around a lot." I said. "It's just that I'm not used to this environment." She hesitantly replied which made me even more curious. "How so?" I continued the bombardment of questions. "I-It's just that I'm used to see everything so blocky, while here there's so many different... shapes." I stood frozen for a few seconds. "Blocky... things like what? Grass? Trees?.. Clouds?" I asked. "Yes, almost exactly like that!" Cupa answered astonished. I turned my head away for a few seconds._ 'Nope, no, impossible, I refuse to accept that THAT dream was real.' _I continuously thought. "Um, Niko? Are you okay?" A concerned Cupa asked. I turned back "Yeah don't mind me." I simply answered then stood up to see my twenty minutes were up. "Oh, got to go, I'll see you later okay?" I said as I turned the knob. "Yeah okay." Cupa responded as I left the room.

"Hey! I'm... here?" I said while looking around the basement. "You're late." An all too familiar voice stated, I looked around to see John loading magazines with bullets. "Alright so... what now?" I asked. "What now is that I'm going to give you a lesson about first aid." John responded. "Huh? I thought you were teaching me trigger discipline." I said. "Yeah but I just remembered that you asked for survival training too when you got here. At least like this you could be learning much more faster." John stated. "Okay... so what first?" I asked. "Since you were in NJROTC I'm assuming that they taught you the common sense about the basic stuff so I guess now is the time to learn about blood control." John answered. "Blood control... what?" I asked. "There are three types of bleeding: Arterial, Venous, and Capillary." The marine continued.

**6:30:07 PM**

About an hour or so in the lesson John called it a day. "Alright." John said while stacking pistols in cabinets. "That's enough, we continue tomorrow." He stated. We both walked upstairs to find the house illuminated with lanterns Jen cooking and Cupa sitting at the dining table. "Oh, hey what's for dinner?" John asked kissing Jen on the cheek. "Nothing much. Just burgers... probably the last meal like this for a while." Jen replied looking down at the sizzling pan. "Hm? What do you mean?" John asked as he cocked his eyebrow. "It means we're nearly out of food, probably two weeks if rationed." I stated as I looked through the cabinets which at least contained seven cans of food. "I might have a little more in my car but as of right now this could be a problem." I said. "Well in the meantime let's eat up." Jen clapped her hands as she brought four servings to the table. "Thank you for the food." Cupa said cheerfully. As soon as everyone got settled in we started conversations. "So Cupa." John began. "Where were you when this whole mess started? Are you out of town?"John asked. "I guess you can say that." Cupa said while taking a bite from her burger. "Really? where?" John once again asked. "Oh you know... I'm from ahh..." At this point I could see that she was totally confused. "She's from Pennsylvania." I answered the first thing that popped in my mind. _'Idiot! do you know how far that is!?' _I slapped myself mentally and tried to go along with it. "Yeah, she came here because of... college opportunities. Isn't that right Cupa?" I said. "Y-Yes that's pretty much why I'm here." Cupa stuttered. Jen and John stared at both of us for a second before shrugging their suspicion away.

Before they could ask more questions I decided to bring them up on the news. "So I read the news a while ago." I announced, the married couple then looked at me curiously. "Any good news?" Jen asked. "I guess good, bad, and good..ish? I don't know you tell me how does a militia with possible help from the Armed Forces sound?" I asked. "That's.. amazing!" Jen said with hope. "So... other than that do you want the good or the bad?" I asked. "I'll take the bad news." John answered. "Well at least five hundred people have died so far within the last three days." The bright look on Jen's face darkened a little. "Oh..." Was all she can say. "And the good news?" Asked Cupa. "Well they're releasing care packages with food, water, and supplies but there is a catch... well for us and all the people around Texas and surrounding states." I said. "That would be?" Cupa once again asked. "Less frequent drops." I firmly said. Drinking the last drop of water in my glass I stood up. "Well, I'm going to sleep." I announced. "Hm? Isn't it too early? It's 7:00" John stated. "Of course." I said. "Gotta get some energy for the scavenging run tomorrow." I firmly said as I headed for the stairs. "Wait scavenging run? Hey Nikolai wait!" John said while following me upstairs. "Nope. I'm doing this whenever you like it or not." I declared. "Alone? Come on it's suicide!" John continued. "Yeah, last time I heard that it got someone killed." I said and added. "Besides I can handle myself." And with that I entered the guest room and closed the door behind me and laid on the bed.

"All right... I have a busy week ahead of me" I quietly said as I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Nikolai." I heard a distant faint voice. "Nikolai, wake up." The voice said once more. "Come on wake the fuck up!" I then felt a hard slap on my left cheek. I instantly opened my eyes to find myself standing. "Where the hell am-" I cut myself off to hear a small splash. It was not until I looked down at my feet to see that I was standing on water. "Definitely a dream." I told myself, "there is just no way..." After a moment I heard a clear sort of deep voice behind me. "A dream? Eh... I wouldn't really call it that." I spun around to see a man, surely not Herobrine thank god but someone else, a bearded man who wore a brown shirt, jeans, and had a fedora. "Then what would you call it?" I asked while studying him. "I'd say a special sort of communication." The man replied while walking around me. "A sort where one requires a special kind of mind." The man answered. "But... Nikolai C. Miles.. you're not what I expected." The man concluded. "And who are you?" I asked. "Markus..." The man said. "Markus Persson, but you can call me Notch." I took the moment to look around my surroundings as there was fog everywhere with little to nothing in sight.

"So... Notch are you Herobrine's messenger or something? I pretty much got the message when he stabbed me in my chest last time." I said. "Nope nothing close." Notch replied. "If anything he needs to be stopped." Notch said. "And this has to do with me how?" I asked. "Not only do you have the mentality to maintain communication to this world but your determination to survive and fight could bring a huge weight on Herobrine especially what's under that cap." Notch said. "But you won't do it alone, you must meet four more people and work with them to push Herobrine's minions back." I took a step back when he said four more people. "Four? Sorry 'teamwork' is not my best suit." I stated. "I wouldn't be surprised, I know your past says otherwise but you _have_ to do this, if not more and more deaths will follow." With that Notch looked behind him as if something was calling him. "I'm needed." He said. "Before I go I gotta give you this, ready yourself." Notch said. "What? ready myself for wh-" I yelled in pain as Notch strongly held my arm, it felt as if my right arm was on fire from shoulder to my hand. As he finished he let go. But as he did my body broke through the water I was standing on and I started sinking. _'One more thing Nikolai.'_ Notch's voice said. _'The first step to start a resistance against Herobrine is to follow the light.' _Notch concluded leaving me alone. I sunk emotionless before I closed my eyes.

* * *

"Gah!" I yelled before noticing I was back in the real world. I then removed part of the blanket that covered my right arm. I expected nothing but I was speechless to see that my arm was marked with what seemed like circuit board lines running down through my arm and seemed to stop at my hand on the top, and not other than that, it was softly illuminating orange with small pulses of light travelling down the lines.


	6. Chapter 5: Scavenging Run

**Chapter 5: Scavenging Run**

**7/28/2017, 6:02:48 AM**

"Ohh no..." I stood up from bed. "How the hell am I going to explain _this_?" I asked while walking back and fourth around the room. Soon my eyes turned towards my shemagh. I then took the fabric and tried my best to tie it around my right arm, it was not the best... but it'll do. I stepped out the guest room door and lightly stepped downstairs, I was nearly towards the door until I heard a yawn and a drowsy feminine voice.

"Hm? Niko? Where are you going?" It said.

I looked behind me to see Cupa on the couch, as she noticed it was me she grew more alert and shoved me away from the door and blocked it. "Where do you you're going?" Cupa glared at me with suspicion.

"Out?" I simply said with a straight face.

"And where would 'out' be?" Cupa asked once again with her body shifting slightly to my every movement. It took me awhile to process the current situation.

"What is all this about exactly?" I asked confused.

"John and Jen told me to make sure you're here when they wake up and instructed me to keep you from leaving." Cupa answered.

I let my left hand gently hit my face. _'John... that stubborn-' _I then took a step forward. "Well I don't care if your the most intimidating person alive." I stated, "I'm walking out that door." I declared as I walked forward. Cupa tensed up and an unsure look covered her face, as soon as I started to gently push her out of the way she tackled me with unexpected force. And before I knew it, Cupa was on top of me and holding down my arms.

"S-Sorry can't let you." She stammered.

"The hell?" I said, struggling to get this girl off of me. But as soon as I was making progress Cupa unintentionally took part of the shemagh on my right arm off, revealing what I tried to hide.

"What.. is that? Cupa asked. I quickly covered it up.

"No idea." I answered. After a moment of struggling I manged to get Cupa off of me. "I don't know what they told you but if I don't get out there we'll run out of supplies." I said.

"No, you're not going anywhere... without me." Cupa replied.

"Oh now that's a definite hell no." I said. "Last thing I need is collateral damage, besides I work better when I'm alone."

"Really? what if you get hurt? huh?" Cupa said.

"I know first aid." I answered. "I can treat myself." Debate after debate I could see that she was stalling, with that I gently pushed my way out of the house.

"I know you're just concerned about my safety, and I appreciate that I do. But standing and doing nothing will just come back and bite us later, if John won't take the risk I will. I'll be back at noon or a bit later I promise." I irritably said as I started my car's engine and drove off leaving a speechless girl behind.

**6:41:02**

After seeing the city not too far away I parked the Challenger and stepped out. First thing I'll need to find is a gun store since I did not bring one then after that I'll look for a grocery store then I'll be done, simple as that. From this point on I resumed in a crouched position working my way towards the shopping district. As soon as I was nearly there I scanned the streets to make sure there were no monsters around before proceeding. _'Gun store.. gun store... Ah! There's one.' _I thought as I looked at the many shops around to see it. I quickly got inside and started to search the place. But as soon as I approached the counter I heard the all too familiar shotgun pump. I quickly raised my hands as a black man in his early twenty's with black hair, brown eyes, and what looked like a Remington 870. "Eh... I don't suppose you can put that down so we can talk?" I asked

"Talk?" The man questioned. "I'd say out here in this zone, this _is_ how we talk." The man said.

"I'm just looking for a gun that's all, I don't want any trouble." I said

"Yeah?" He said as he took out what seemed like a glock from the showcase and tossed it to me. "You're a scavenger right?" The man asked. I nodded my head. "Well let's make a deal, I've been hearing rumors about recent airdrops, but the most relevant is that there's one that's going to drop in the downtown area. How 'bout it huh? You help me and we'll split the loot fifty-fifty. He then tossed me a magazine.

"Uhh... Fuck it. Can't go back empty handed." I replied as I loaded the gun and did a chamber check.

"Alright, let's go." My temporary partner said. As we ran out of the store I caught a glimpse of a local Wal-mart about a mile away.

_'On the way back.' _I planned. _'But... I wonder if this information is actually legit.' _I wondered.

The run has been uneventful so far, sure we get the occasional spider once in a while but other than that the gust of wind was all I can hear besides our footsteps. As we walked in the now dense urban environment to catch our breath I decided to ask my partner something. "Hey." I panted. "You know, I never got to know your name."

"Samuel." The man responded not looking back. "Your's?"

"Nikolai." I answered. "So.. Samuel how was your life before all this? I asked.

"Do you really wanna know?" Samuel asked bluntly.

"Just trying to spark a conversation." I inaudibly said. Not much later a small sound of a plane could be heard, and with that Samuel grew more hyped.

"Holy shit, come on! we gotta be the first ones there!" Samuel yelled and began to run. I then followed.

"Woah! hey! we have to be more cautious about this!" I yelled only for my voice to be interrupted by shotgun shots. I looked to see where he was shooting to see two skeletons falling at the impact of fire.

"Spiders on our left! take care of them." Samuel ordered.

I then aimed the glock to my left to see five spiders on a nearby skyscraper. I pulled the trigger and fired four shots to see one of them fall.

"You're really a shitty aim aren't you?" Samuel said.

"Oh like you can do better while running!" I defended myself.

"Hmph." grunted Samuel as if he took that like a challenge. As we kept on running the roaring of the cargo plane's engines became more loud until it passed us overhead. I then saw something come out of it, two of them. There was a small delay before red and black colored smoke filled the sky. "Which one are we taking!?" I yelled over the loud roar of the plane.

"Follow the black smoke!" Ordered Samuel as he changed his course to follow the red smoke trail. "We'll meet at the gun shop!" Yelled Samuel as he kept going forward.

I then took a left to match the direction of the smoke trail. It wasn't long before I heard whistling arrows fly by around me from skeletons in the shade and the weird sounds of spiders from the buildings above. I just did not care about killing them, all of my focus was on the trail in the sky. After twenty more minutes of running on the streets I took shortcuts in alleyways before looking up once more to to actually see the crate. It was larger than I imagined for it had a rectangular shape, looked bulky too from this distance. It wasn't long until I could see that it was going to touchdown at the river walk. I brought up my pistol and climbed a small fence and dropped down a ledge to enter the river walk. A few hours of searching I found the black smoke along with the crate.

I sighed. "Hope this was worth it." I said as I made my way towards the care package. Once I reached it I began to undo the nylon buckles on top of the package then worked my way down. As soon as all the secured buckles were done I popped open the metal cover and threw it towards the river in a small celebration of finding this forsaken package. As I looked at the contents I sighed out of relief of how much came with this package. "Alright!" I said with renewed motivation as I started to go through it. Inside at first was a Oakley grey/black survival pack (Oakley Mechanism Pack) which I unzipped to put the rest of the contents in. next thing I grabbed was an odd looking thing, I've never seen it before. It looked like a small rectangle but with the corners curved. As I inspected it more I saw two arrows pointing opposite from another, I then pulled the sides apart to reveal a glass display of what seemed to be a handheld GPS but as soon as I turned it on I recoiled back as a large holographic display shot out. After realizing that it showed a local map in a seventy five mile range I closed it and put it in my pocket. _'Definitely keeping that'_ I thought.

The final thing that stood out was a rectangular metal case which my best guess was containing a rifle of some sort. after getting that along with gloves and a black Nike track jacket I stormed out of there and made my way towards the outskirts. As I was walking my HUD suddenly turned on except this time I felt nothing surprisingly. I then heard static

_'...ai! ...ets co...ng!'_

Wait... Foxtrot? With that I heard distant yells behind me.

"There he is! Get him!"

I looked behind me to see three guys. And without hesitation they fired.

I ran. "Shit!" I yelled as bullets sliced through the air and with one ripping past my left shoulder. I winced in pain but clutched the case tightly and took cover at the nearest building I could find... which was the Alamo. As I busted through the door and hid behind cover before inspecting my wound. "Venous." I whispered as I looked at the bleeding wound. I then counted seventeen bullets in the magazine of the glock. And just as I was about to peek gunshots filled the room. "With all do respect can you guys not shoot here!?" I yelled over the gunshots. "Please. There's too much history here." For a moment there was silence. "T-Thank you." I stuttered due to pain. Then the gunshots continued. _'Damn it... Foxtrot... Emergency Protocol... please.' _With that I took the biggest gamble of my life as I stood up and aimed at the three guys. Everything slowed down. I then heard Foxtrot's static'ed voice.

_'Mea...ing conflict. F..ther in...ry... inevitable. 34% ch..ce of liv...g. set...g up c..de 04, 09 and ...7'_

After seeing my hologram go I tried my best to mimic it. As time became normal I pulled the trigger two times at the bandit in the center most likely killing him. I then forced myself to relocate cover but it resulted me getting shot in the leg, same as my hologram. As I fell down I played dead for a moment until one other bandit stood into the open to inspect me. I then unleashed a barrage of bullets in his torso area. I then rolled to my right.

"You fucker!" The last bandit yelled as he witnessed his comrades die by me. He continued firing his gun repeatedly in my direction. I worked my way towards the souvenir shop. It was here where my legs gave out and I decided to make my final stand. I opened the rectangular hard case to reveal a metal sniper rifle with out a scope, the design of it looked almost as if it came out in a futuristic game on the side of it in engraved letters read _'Martini-Henry Mk. VII'_ and below it read _'AG-Systems' _I then desperately searched for a bullet I can use and sure enough I found five .300 Magnum cartridges in the case I quickly got one and loaded it into the rifle and aimed. I then heard his voice. "You'll pay for this!" He yelled angrily as he stormed through the door. The next thing I heard was two bangs and a body hitting the ground.

I opened my eyes to see the bandit on the ground gasping for air while holding on to his throat, and not to later the gasps stopped and the man laid on the floor motionless. I however was breathing heavily, I then struggled to sit up. I let the rifle rest on the floor, "Thank you U.K. for making such amazing rifles." I said hoarsely as I watched the brightness of the room getting slightly darker. _'Sorry Cupa... a bit change of plans.'_

That was my last thought as I blacked out.

* * *

**Just for clarification, the rifle Nikolai had in this is not real in real-life. Since it's 2017 in this I decided to at least put a fictional weapon based on my most favorite rifle ever (Besides the SCAR) but other than that hope you enjoyed.**


End file.
